The most Rewarding way to Build your Recruitment Agency

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We have all heard the business development advice, be interested in your clients’ interests, their children’s names, football teams etc. Well my take on this is unless it is genuine interest and not feigned interest, forget it. People can smell phoney a mile away. If it is genuine, you will quickly click with likeminded individuals and some of those people will undoubtedly become life long fans – or Gold Class Clients.

Definition of a Gold Class Client

The people (collectively your clients) that are as mutually interested in your commercial success as you are in theirs. (ref:BK’s dictionary)

Recognise any? If you do, awesome, if not, here’s how to get a few.

Over the course of my career I have met thousands of people; some I have only met once, some have become regular clients and a small percentage have become lifelong friends with whom I still do business. The later group are people I trust, know are in my corner and vice versa. There is quiet satisfaction in knowing I have these friends in the market waving my flag and sharing the good will.

But how did I arrive at that point?

I have looked closely at these relationships for the commonality and how I arrived at the point with these people that started as a business lead and over time became very dear to me. Did I pick them? Did they pick me? My dad offered some sage ‘dad advice’ when I was a teenager scrambling to find my place in the world; “It’s far better to nurture a few wonderfully close friends than chasing hundreds of acquaintances.” And that was before Facebook! I think the same is true in recruitment, you don’t need hundreds of clients and contacts, if you have less clients but most of those clients are brilliant to work with you are in a recruitment sweet spot.

This is what I discovered

The people with whom I have built long lasting friendships in business have this in common with me: The Same Values – At the core of our belief system, things line up and without even discussing a topic I can pretty much guarantee if it’s important to me, it will be to them too. Nothing forced – There has been no relationship for the sake of business, it’s the other way around. It’s almost like we met through business and whilst that is still important, the friendship over time takes priority. Respect for what I do – At the beginning of these relationships there was no “oh so you’re a recruiter” verbalised with recognisable disdain quickly followed by the unjustified judgement automatically grouping me into a homogeneous category of recruitment bottom feeders (of which I have only ever found a few in 16 years of recruiting). No, these people see me for who I am; a mum, a wife, a friend and a fellow global citizen just trying to make a living, have some fun and take care of my family. Empathy – There is a commonality or empathy present in our business dealings. If we encounter a problem, we solve it as partners would, we can thrash it out, ensure a fair outcome and have a glass of wine or three afterwards. Fun – We enjoy each others company and from here business is fulfilling, stimulating and exciting. No BS – there is an authenticity in the communication, no political games or posturing. There is a space to be open and honest to get the best result for everybody. It is give and take on a level playing field. There is no trying to motivate clients. Lastly, Commercial gain – The irony is that these awesome people are responsible over the years for creating some of the most profitable accounts I have had the pleasure to support. The good news for them is they have had great results too! They have been amazing people who have gone on to do impressive things for their companies. Over time they have become increasingly influential in their market and recommended me to their peers where I have been able to significantly leverage credibility by proxy – one of the most under-rated factors in business growth.

So why is this important?

These allies over the course of running your recruitment agency will be accountable for more of your new business than any social media, advertising, email marketing combined. If you nurture these relationships with a genuine interest and deliver results for these advocates your business will be unstoppable.

Where to from here?

I would look at your 5 top contacts, the people you know are sending you leads, the ones you know are in your corner and I would look at what commonalities they have and set out to find more like them. Thanks for Reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Belinda Kerr Recruitment Garage

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